Someone to Watch Over Me
by pandi19
Summary: Set in the upcoming Season 3. When Mac is injured on Oversight's mission, Jack needs to have a talk with James MacGyver.


**Title:** Someone to Watch Over Me

 **Fandom:** MacGyver (2016)

 **Author:** Pandi19

 **Rating:** PG-13

 **Characters:** Jack Dalton, James MacGyver, Matty Webber, and Angus MacGyver (mentioned)

 **Summary:** Set in the upcoming Season 3. When Mac is injured on Oversight's mission, Jack needs to have a talk with James MacGyver.

 **Disclaimer/Warning:** Anything you recognize is not mine. I was only a fly on the wall for this. Also, there's a bit more swearing in this than in the show. With our guys being ex-Army, I've taken some liberties with dialogue.

 **Author's Note:** Thank you to Sarah for the encouragement and prompt. You have no idea what you started in me.

And a special thank you to **gaelicspirit** for the beta and repeated reassurance. You are the Mac to my Jack or the Jack to my Mac...I'm not completely sure which is right, but you get the idea. Fangirling with you is so much fun, my friend.

* * *

Jack didn't remember the drive to The Phoenix Foundation. One minute he was in the hospital parking lot, the next he standing outside Oversight's office door. Thirty-five minutes just…gone. Perhaps the lack of memory should concern him, but there was only one thing on his mind.

 _Mac._

The mission had gone sideways. When didn't they? And typically, that was okay. They were a team; they could handle sideways.

But this one? This one wasn't his fault or the kid's. This was one was on Oversight, who just happened to be James MacGyver –- Mac's dad. And there was nothing okay with that in Jack's opinion.

He closed his eyes, his mind replaying images from Mac's hospital room. The forced mechanical breathing. Mac's face a mess of purple and black bruises. The stillness. His partner was a shell; Jack recognized the meaning behind the nurses' facial expressions — what if, _what if. . .._

Jack shut down his spiraling thoughts abruptly and exhaled, running a hand down his face. He was doing this.

For Mac.

He pounded his fist on the door, waited a millisecond, then tested the knob. _Unlocked._ He flung the door open, hitting the wall behind.

At the desk in the center of the office, James MacGyver's head shot up from a manila file folder. "Agent Dalton, what the hell are you doing here?"

Not waiting for an invitation, Jack walked into the office, stopping only when he was directly in front of his boss. Oversight had gotten up, but still stood behind the large desk.

Element of surprise was always something Jack wanted in a fight. Catch the enemy unaware. Except…Mac's dad wasn't the enemy. Technically. The man sure as hell wasn't winning Father of the Year, but he was a good guy in the realm of covert affairs.

Jack watched as MacGyver wiped all traces of emotion from his face. _This guy is good._

"What am _I_ doing here? What the hell are _you_ doing here?" Jack's voice ratcheted up, his Texas drawl becoming evident. "Mac's in a coma, but for you just another day at the office?"

"Agents are injured in the line of duty all the time," MacGyver replied. "Angus is a seasoned agent; he knows the risks just as well as you."

It was the same tone his son used when sharing something he thought his partner should know. The weight of the words hit Jack. _No_. MacGyver didn't get to play that card.

Jack's face twisted with anguish. "Do you even hear what you're saying...Sir?"

James MacGyver's expression didn't change. It was the same one Mac wore when Jack mentioned his dad. Closed. His eyes hard and mouth set in a firm narrow line; the challenge was laid out and Dalton took the bait.

"Your son was injured during _your_ revenge mission and you can't pause the paperwork to go to him?" Jack dramatically waved his arm to encompass whatever the hell the man had been working on.

"I'm aware of the situation. Director Webber has kept me updated," MacGyver answered.

Jack saw red. His right hand formed a tight fist and his jaw clenched to the point he swore he felt his teeth crack.

" _Updated?"_ Jack repeated incredulously.

"Yes," MacGyver replied, moving to return to his paperwork.

Everything Jack had been willing to stay deep inside came shooting out. "This isn't something you get to sit out. Don't you understand? _Do something._ It's _your_ fucking fault he's lying in that hospital bed!"

MacGyver moved around the desk, only stopping when he was toe-to-toe with Jack.

"Dalton, you are dangerously close to insubordination. Do you care to rephrase that?" Oversight hissed. Fire that Jack had seen in Mac's eyes, burned in his father's

Jack's eyebrows shot up. He fought his disbelief to not take a step back; like hell would he give any ground.

"Do I — do _I_ care? Do _you_ care?" Jack shot back, not waiting for a reply continuing, "Mac is your son! He's not some pawn to use in your personal war."

"Another word and this goes in your file."

"You can take my file and shove it up your —"

"Jack! Hallway. _Now_." Matty Webber ordered from the doorway. He hadn't even heard the door open.

With a final glare at Oversight, Jack reluctantly stalked out of the office and leaned his back against the wall, closing his eyes. Matty leaned her head into Oversight's office saying something Jack couldn't catch, then pulled the door shut.

He rubbed the back of his neck, muscles there coiled with tension. His whole body ached to its very core. His sweaty skin pricked with the open air of the hall. He could feel his heart pound in his clenched fist.

Opening his eyes and tipping his head back to rest on the wall, Jack swallowed, waiting for the floor to open up and the depths of hell to devour him.

Closing the door to Oversight's office, Matty turned to face Jack. If her eyes had been lasers, he'd be dead. This wasn't the first time he'd fucked up and it was safe to wager it wouldn't be the last. The only other time she'd been this angry with him, he'd left for the Sandbox forty-eight hours later.

"Jack Dalton, of all of the epically horrible decisions you've made over the years, this is the worst! Do you even realize what you're doing?" Her disappointment clear.

"Don't you protect him, Matty," Jack took a step forward, pointing at the closed door.

"Protect _him_? I'm protecting _you_. The last thing Baby Einstein needs is for you to get fired. How are you supposed to watch his six then, Jack?"

For the first time, he looked at Matty. She stood straight and firm, a power stance that she often used in the War Room. But then he focused on her eyes. They held a soft quality and Jack felt the fight leave his body.

"It ain't right," he said softly.

"No, but you know as well as anyone, you can't force a MacGyver to do something he doesn't want to."

He huffed a small chuckle, nodding. Once Mac's mind was made up, nothing could convince him otherwise. Apparently, that trait was inherited.

"Did you know he told Mac he wanted a second chance? Updates ain't gonna cut it," Jack broke eye contact and bowed his head. . "No. _Family_ shows up for the good and the bad; the least he could do is go to the hospital," his voice faltered over the last word.

Matty reached over and grasped his hand tightly. The tears that filled his eyes weren't unexpected. His emotions had been raw since this nightmare had started.

"Go back to the hospital. Mac is going to need you to get him through this," Matty encouraged.

Jack didn't remember the drive the hospital. Time seemed to skip and suddenly he was walking across the threshold of Mac's room.

"Hey bud, I'm back," he greeted and pulled the plastic chair over to his partner's bedside.

Jack let his gaze travel from the top of Mac's blond hair to his blanket-covered feet. His partner was battered, that much was certain. He was bruised and torn and way, _way_ too still. But he wasn't broken. Because Jack was there. Watching his six. Doing his job—being the kid's family.

From there Jack did the only thing he knew to do in their situation: he talked. Not about his altercation with James MacGyver, but about how the Cowboys looked good in pre-season, how they needed to get one more fishing trip in before the rain came, and how much he'd kill for one of Bozer's meat-mania pizzas.

Jack knew Mac would find his way back using Jack's voice as his compass. So, he talked until exhaustion made his eyes heavy and he leaned forward resting his head near Mac's still hand.

He never saw the man standing outside the door, watching over them.


End file.
